


The Mystery Incorporated Files

by NinetyNineGhosts



Series: Scooby Doo (But Gritty) [1]
Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Murder, Body Horror, Dark Comedy, Drama, Eventual Romance, Horror, LGBTQ Themes, Marijuana, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Murder, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Paranormal Investigators, Psychological Horror, Recreational Drug Use, References to Real Life People, Road Trips, Service Animals, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19390585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinetyNineGhosts/pseuds/NinetyNineGhosts
Summary: In the world of gritty re-imaginings such as Riverdale, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Titans, etc, what would happen to the Mystery Inc gang if their issues and tropes were cast into a modern world, full of drama, mystery, action, romance, and real-life consequences! Featuring reimagined versions of each character to better suit the new setting, discover what would really happen when 5 teens decide to pack up in a van and solve some mysteries of their own.





	1. Prelude to Minneapolis

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! This probably seems like a weird concept to tackle, but after not writing for years, I'm ready to try! Just some notes, you don't need to know anything about Scooby Doo to enjoy this!

"Don't feed Scooby, Shag. He already ate and you're just going to make him hurl again." Fred called, looking into the rearview mirror of his van to spot Shaggy and his service dog in the back. 

Shaggy raised a pointed middle finger up to where Fred could see.

"Cheese puffs aren't going to kill my dog, man." He responded, taking a rolled-up joint out of his mouth to speak. Shaggy had long, bony fingers, and his messy brown hair was currently kept at bay by a dark green beanie. The man was incredibly tall, and his hands were covered in cheese dust as he tossed a cheese puff to the Great Dane lying next to him, who caught it in his mouth.

"Maybe not, but smoking in here definitely will." A nasally voice piped up. Velma, a small woman wearing a large brown coat over an orange turtleneck, gazed up at Shaggy from where she was sitting - Across from him in the open trunk area of the van. Due to the late hour of the night, the light from the laptop in front of her reflected off of her thick glasses. "And it'll kill Daphne, at that."

"....I'll be fine.." A tired redhead responded from the passenger seat. Daphne was a feeble-looking girl, currently curled up under a blanket. Riddled with a variety of diseases that weakened her immune system and hurt her lungs, she currently was wearing a mask that helped to filter oxygen for her as she tried to sleep.

"Velma's right, Shaggy. Can you put that blunt away for a bit, at least until we get to a gas station? Maybe you should try to sleep." Fred piped up, his eyes darting from the lit highway in front of him back to the rearview mirror. "It'll be about another four hours before we reach Minnesota, so sleeping'll probably be a good idea." 

"No way, man." Shaggy shook his head lazily and wriggled out of his oversized green jacket. "I can put out the joint, but this Youtuber I dig should be posting soon and, like, I want to catch that."

"Jenna Marbles?" Velma asked, her attention returned to her laptop as she wrote. "She's not posting this week. She's on vacation, remember?"

"Fuck." Shaggy groaned. "Fine, whatever, I'll sleep. Hey, Velm, couldja throw me a blanket?" 

A pink, furry blanket neatly rolled up was tossed at the stoner, knocking him over. He laughed a bit before unfurling the blanket and tossing over himself and his dog, who was comfortably lying down next to him. The dog's collar read 'SCOOBY DOO'. 

"Like, wake me up when we stop for breakfast, okay?" Shaggy piped up.

"Can do!" Fred gave a thumbs-up to confirm, and Shaggy made a tired 'yay' sound before supposedly drifting off to sleep. 

Pretty soon, the only sounds were the keyboard of Velma's laptop, the hum of Daphne's ventilator, and the radio quietly playing old 60s beats. Fred soon found himself lost in thought as he drove, humming along to the classic music. He honestly couldn't believe he and the gang were all out of school. They were...adults now. Free to make their own decisions, do whatever they wanted...

None of them had really had that much freedom before.

"....Freddy?" Daphne weakly raised her voice a bit to catch his attention.

"...Babe, it's like, 4 AM. Why are you still awake?" Fred gently responded, concern seeping into his tone.

"I just...it's crazy." Daphne giggled nervously, but had to stop so she wouldn't cough. "We're fresh out of school, but instead of planning for college or jobs or anything...we're on the road, headed across the country."

"Well, we can make our own choices now." Fred nodded. "And who needs college, anyways? All my dad ever wanted for me was to go to Harvard or Yale or whatever. Getting to see the country, know all the opportunities I have up close...That's what I want."

"All my parents ever wanted was for me to marry rich." The ginger mumbled, pulling her blanket closer. "They were so happy when we started dating, and now...we're going against everything they wanted. We're out of Crystal Cove. It's amazing." 

"It's a real adventure, pumpkin." Fred smiled softly. "...But, really, you need sleep more than anyone else here. Get some rest, Daph. I know you're just as excited as all of us, but...I want you to take care of yourself." 

Daphne nodded, her smile faltering a bit.

"...Yeah, I need to rest. I guess my thinking just got me so excited, you know?" Her smile came back on, and she went back to settling in to sleep, leaning her seat back to better lie down.

Fred put his attention back onto the road, turning the radio down a bit to better ease Daphne's sleep.

"I booked us a hotel in Minneapolis." Velma piped up. "It's kind of surprising how many hotels are shitty to people with service animals."

Fred nodded solemnly. He'd heard the horror stories from Shaggy back before they spent much time together, and now it was even more clear to him the issues that people can have with service dogs. They'd had to leave so many restaurants or have Shaggy and Scooby wait in the van...it really sucked.

"Thanks, Velm." Fred responded. "You gonna sleep now?"

"Probably." Velma shrugged, running a hand through her messy brown hair. "Average human needs around seven hours, after all. Maybe you should pull over somewhere and rest up, too." 

"I'll be alright!" Fred smiled and waved a hand nonchalantly. "I like driving, and I'm not that tired right now. Don't worry about me, alright?" 

"...Okay." 

Velma shut her laptop and put her glasses into their case. Grabbing another blanket, she laid down onto her side and curled up like some kind of little nerdy burrito. 

Fred sighed and rubbed his eyes a bit.

He was so excited to get to see new places, meet new people...but he couldn't shake a sense of dread. 

His father had told him the rest of the world was dangerous, that the only places he'd ever need to go to were Crystal Cove, then an Ivy League college, and then back to Crystal Cove.

Fred knew it was bullshit. If there was danger, he had his friends with him, and they were all adults now who could handle themselves.

But still...anything could happen on the road.

He shook his head and kept driving, turning the music back up to keep himself awake.


	2. Minneapolis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang notices some odd occurrences at the hotel they're booked at.

"Hey, Daph - Wake up, babe!" 

Daphne yawned and looked into the clear, blue eyes of her partner. Freddy looked....less than good, to be honest. Dark circles had formed around his eyes, and his usually combed blonde hair was now falling into his face as he nudged her awake from her spot in the passenger seat. His bottle of hairspray must've worn off.

"Mm...We in Minnesota?" Daphne asked, pulling her mask off of her face and reaching to shut off her ventilator. She reaffixed her nasal cannula, a thin, flexible tube that went underneath her nose to provide her better oxygen flow throughout the day. Hooking the tube over her ears to keep it in place, she ensured that the cannula wouldn't move. 

She used to hate the ventilator, and the cannula, and all the medications she had to stay on. Daphne was the youngest of her parents' eight daughters, so she would've already been babied and overprotected even if she hadn't come out premature and sickly. Her poorly developed lungs, compromised immune system, and countless allergies only made the coddling worse. It was part of why she was so ready to set out into the real world, now - It was everything she'd missed out on growing up. Daphne remembered only even being allowed to attend public school after begging her parents at age 13. It was ridiculous how she used to-

"- Daph?" Fred asked. Daphne jolted a bit. "You okay, pumpkin?"

"Oh! I'm fine. I spaced out, sorry. Did you say something?" 

"We're at the hotel." Freddy smiled softly. "We unpacked everything while you were sleeping. Why don't we head up to our room so you can finish sleeping in a real bed?"

"That sounds great." Daphne smiled back, pushing the blanket off of herself and pushing the van door open. "Can you help me carry some of my equipment up?"

"Sure thing!" Without hesitation, Fred got to work, helping Daphne out of the van and climbing into the seat to grab everything.

Admittedly, Daphne felt a bit bad having Freddy get her stuff for her. He was obviously tired, and he wasn't the only strong person in the group. Velma was a black belt, for crying out loud. She could beat Fred in arm wrestling and usually did most of the heavy lifting when it came to loading and unloading the van. Honestly, Velma was a sight to be seen when she was lifting - She was such a petite thing, such a display of strength almost seemed unnatural. Unnatural, but also incredibly impressive.

Wait, no, this isn't about Velma, Daphne thought to herself. Lately, the ginger had been viewing the team's brainiac in odd ways, and she wasn't sure how to make of it.

Once all of Daphne's gear was unloaded, she and Fred walked into the lobby of the hotel.

The first thing Daphne noticed was that it was freezing.

"Jinkies," She grumbled. "I get Minnesota's supposed to be cold, but is everyone going to melt if it's not winter temps around here?"

"They're probably just keeping it cooler because it's summertime." Fred reasoned as he stopped in front of an elevator and pressed the 'up' botton. "But...It does feel a bit extreme."

"A 'bit' extreme? That's like saying my shopping addiction is a 'bit' out of hand." Daphne joked.

"You do have a point."

The elevator doors slid open, and the duo stepped inside. The doors closed, and the elevator began a slow climb up.

"What's this hotel called?" Daphne asked. "I forgot to check the sign when we were walking in."

"It's the Snowy Peak Inn." Fred recalled. "Built in 1963, it's actually technically the second location in what is now a widespread hotel chain in the Northern Midwest!" 

"Jinkies, you looked this place up, huh?" Daphne smirked. 

"Hey, Velma might be into crimes and science, but I got an 'A' in History for a reason. Besides, it's also an impressive business! I could mention it to my dad if I ever decide to write him." 

"An impressive business...Cool." The ginger looked around. "Not so impressive tech, though. Are we even at the second floor yet?"

"The elevator's pretty old, I think." Fred explained. "We'll get there! Just be patient."

Daphne huffed and crossed her arms. She was never good with waiting. 

After what felt like an eternity, the doors slid open. 

"C'mon, Scoob, like, it's just a hallway!" A familiar voice groaned.

Shaggy seemed to be experiencing some difficulty taking his service dog into his respective hotel room. Scooby's eyes were dead-set on something in the hallway, and a low, quiet growl could be heard in the Great Dane's throat.

"Woah, what's up, Shag?" Freddy asked as he and Daphne stepped out of the elevator. 

"Like, Scooby-Doo's freaking out about nothing, man!" Shaggy yelped. "I don't know what's pissing him off so much, but it's, like, seriously creeping me out!"

"Oh, come on." Daphne rolled her eyes. "Don't you have a special command or something to get him to snap out of it?"

"Judging by his body language, I think he's trying to protect Shaggy from something." Velma piped up as she stepped out of her hotel room. "Perhaps Scooby can see something we can't."

Silence for a moment.

"I'm kidding." Velma deadpanned. "That stuff isn't real. Scooby's probably just smelled something he didn't like."

The loud 'creak' of a door broke Scooby-Doo's apparent trance. 

"What is that awful noise -" A tall woman with thin lips and bright green eyes groaned before stopping and staring at the gang. "You've brought a dog....Into a hotel?" 

"He's a service animal." Velma explained. "Our friend here suffers from certain conditions."

"I'm sure he does." The woman sneered. "But a dog in a hotel like this is unacceptable. There are people here who hate dogs."

"And there's people here that hate snooty old ladies, but you don't see us complaining." Daphne snapped. The woman seemed shellshocked.

"....You keep that damned dog away from me, you idiotic children." She hissed. "Do you even know who I am?"

"A three-time divorcee with a plastic surgery addiction?" Velma guessed. 

"My name is Melinda Habersburger. Ring a bell?" The woman snapped.

"Habersburger?" Shaggy asked. "Like, isn't that a kind of sandwich?"

"My husband is Jakob Habersburger! World-renowned millionaire? He runs the Habersburger Charity for Health!" The woman - Melinda - nearly screeched.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Fred tried to defuse the situation. "But that doesn't ring a bell. We'll be sure to leave you alone for the rest of our stay, though."

"You better." Melinda snarled. "I'm filing a formal complaint to hotel management as soon as I'm able." And with that, she slammed the door to her room.

"What's the wife of a millionaire doing at a hotel like this?" Velma asked herself quietly.

"Maybe she's friends with the owners." Fred shrugged. "Let's...try to forget about the situation for now."

Shaggy nodded, and led a nervous-looking Scooby into the hotel room. Velma followed after the duo and shut the door, leaving Fred and Daphne alone. 

"What a pig." Daphne mumbled. "I hate pompous rich people. Acting like they're so much better than everyone else because they have money."

"You know, you used to act like that." Fred reminded Daphne. 

"So did you! We were stupider back when we were in school." 

"I'm just saying, we shouldn't judge. She could just be having a bad day!"

"Still..." Daphne sighed as she pressed her room key into the door's slot. "I don't like her. I've heard of the Habersburger Charity for Health - They helped to fund a few organ transplants at the Crystal Cove General Hospital. I...never really liked them. It always felt like they were doing these life-saving acts just to get all the credit for, well, saving someone's life. It never felt altruistic or caring or anything." She pushed the door open and stepped into her hotel room. "How is it even colder in here??" 

"Woah, hey, calm down, Daph." Fred calmly spoke. "Let's get settled down and we'll be able to warm up when we lay down in a real bed."

"...Alright." Daphne yawned. "When are we waking up?"

"At around noon, one of Velma's blog friends is meeting us for brunch." Fred explained. "It's eight now. That gives us just about four more hours to snooze."

"Sounds good to me." Daphne nodded. "Maybe the bed'll help my back after sleeping in the van seat."

Fred frowned. 

"You didn't tell me you were uncomfortable -"

"Oh my god, Freddy, it's okay! It's not a big deal, let's just get to bed." Daphne shook her head. Fred was always such a serious guy. Or, well, not serious, but...concerned. She could hardly joke about her chronic illness without Fred's worrying for her increasing tenfold. Once she had the audacity to joke about 'wanting to take one too many pain pills' after seeing one of Shaggy's horrible food combinations. Bad idea. Freddy almost started crying. Genuinely crying! Like, yeah, maybe it was worrying, but it wasn't like she meant it! Freddy just couldn't take a joke sometimes, she figured.

She rolled her ventilator to the side of the bed and switched out her cannula for the face mask once more before lying down on the soft, pillow mattress and letting out a sigh of relief as she wrapped herself in the blankets. 

She felt the familiar weight of Fred gently climb into the bed next to her, and she smiled softly. Even if he was a bit of a buzz kill sometimes, he was still her boyfriend. She loved him! 

Knowing he was by her side helped Daphne drift off into a peaceful slumber...the last words she heard were a ghostly female voice whisper into her ear.

_"Check the basement."_

.....

Wait, what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos, folks! I'm a bit nervous about writing some parts of this, but Im excited to delve into the mystery building up to y'all! You guys got any ideas as to what's going on, or suggestions for future locations?


	3. Strawberry Syrup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang meets up with some blog buddies of Velmas, and an uncomfortable revelation is made.

"So, how's freelance work going?" A tall woman with a shaved head asked as she emptied a bottle of syrup onto her waffles.

"Honestly, things are working out fine. I got an article done for the Daily Hearse about the psychology of serial killer fangirls, and I actually just took a gig with SnuffFeed to write some clickbait-y list of the worst women serial killers." Velma pressed her glasses up further onto her nose as she spoke.

"SnuffFeed?" The woman sneered. "C'mon, Velm, we know you're better than that."

"The company might be a bit more morally unsound than I like, but the pay's too good to refuse now that I'm not working my day job anymore. Besides, it's got a huge reach. I'll get a lot more offers if I get my name further out there." 

"But, like, what about our blog?" Shaggy spoke up, setting aside his third plate of brunch. "That still makes us money, right? Or, like, am I just writing our road trip out for nothing?"

"Don't worry, Shag." Velma gave a reassuring smile. "The ad revenue and all from the blog is hasn't gone down at all. It just never hurts to have some extra money to put away in case something happens."

Daphne nodded along to the conversation, raising a glass of water to her lips as she picked at her fruit salad with her fork. She'd been oddly quiet since they'd all met up to head to brunch.

"It's great to get to see you, Mila." Fred piped in, prompting the bald woman to look up from her waffles. "Your videos are a huge inspiration. I mean - The special effects are crazy."

"Special effects?" Mila laughed and rolled her eyes. "Fred, the videos aren't edited like that. I've told you before, my paranormal encounters are real." 

"Well, yeah, obviously you have to say that for the fans, sure." Fred shrugged. "But it's still some impressive work. Who would've known a ghost hunting channel would get so popular?"

"People are fascinated by the unknown, Fred." Velma explained. "And you don't need to be so passive aggressive about your skepticism. Mila knows we're rational people, you don't need to keep reminding her."

"I just can't believe how you all don't believe." Mila sighed. "I mean, most of your mysteries involve supernatural happenings."

"Supposedly supernatural," Fred corrected her. "In the end, the answers are always the same: The monsters are all just people trying to prey off of small town superstition."

"Like, Crystal Cove should've changed its' name to 'Costume Cove', right?" Shaggy laughed for a bit, then got quiet. "Like, sorry. I'm still tired from my nap, dudes. I'm...gonna hit the buffet up again." 

"Grab me a plate of turkey bacon!" Daphne raised her voice a bit, and Shaggy gave a thumbs-up gesture to show he understood as he walked away from the table, Scooby by his side. 

"I'm back!" A different voice rang. A small man dressed in flannel took an empty seat at the table. "Sorry, dudes. My boyfriend wanted to know what to get at the store."

"Welcome back, Wes." Velma smirked. "Hey, how's your latest article coming along?" 

"It's going great!" Wes smiled. "I love getting to talk about my heritage, so a piece on Korean folklore is perfect right now. You're working with SnuffFeed, I hear?"

"I'm doing some work on the 'Top 10 Deadliest Damsels'." The brunette explained, fiddling with the sleeve of her jacket absentmindedly. "The company's trash, but the pay's good, so don't judge me."

"Oh, no judgement here!" Wes laughed. "I'm the one who worked for them until I moved, you know. I produced a few episodes of SnuffFeed Unsolved." 

"Wait, really?" Shaggy butted in as he returned to the table, setting down his own overloaded plate and then sliding over a smaller plate of bacon to Daphne. "Dude, that show is like, the only SnuffFeed thing I'll ever watch." 

"Yeah, same. Hey - You guys mind if I ask why you chose to stay at Snowy Peak? Like, with the missing person case." Wes asked, causing Fred to raise a brow.

"What missing person case?" 

"Patty O'Malley? The missing Instagram model?" Wes pulled out his phone and put on a rather popular Instagram account. "She was last seen checking into the Snowy Peak hotel before she went missing. Her last post was from her hotel room two weeks ago."

"I feel like I've heard of Patty O'Malley..." Daphne chimed in, her mouth full of bacon. 

"She got in a big scandal last year. Something about pissing off vegans, I dunno." Mila shrugged. "Instagram isn't my thing."

"Nevertheless, I figured maybe you guys were trying to investigate." Wes explained. "After all, solving crimes is your guys' thing." 

Velma frowned. Missing person cases were different from the usual issues her and the gang had to handle in Crystal Cove. This could easily be a human trafficking issue, which she and the others weren't qualified to look into at all - But then again, it could perhaps also be a murder, which was a bit more her style.

"We didn't know about this." Fred responded. "Honestly, I'm shocked we never heard of this until now." 

"Well, if anyone can solve it, it's you folks." Mila smirked. "It'll give you guys a great subject to cover on your blog." 

"Like, I wasn't expecting us to start investigating any spooks or shit before like, next week, so would it be alright if I, like, got to be a bit distant from this case for now?" Shaggy asked. "Like, I just need some time to mentally prepare, y'know?"

"That's perfectly fine, Shaggy." Velma nodded. 

"Sorry about the sudden subject change." Wes laughed nervously. "Hey, did you guys catch that new season of Stranger Things yet? It's amazing -"

~

The van tires screeched as Velma yanked the steering wheel and sent the van swerving into the Snowy Peak parking lot, prompting some serious criticism from the rest of the group. 

"Holy FUCK, Vel!" Fred cursed, rubbing his head. "Watch out!"

"Why did you even let her drive, Freddy?" Daphne groaned. Velma simply laughed a bit to herself - She wasn't the best driver, yeah, but it was also just kind of funny watching her friends get mad. It was interesting getting to analyze their reactions in deadly situations - The small, childish part of Velma that had wanted to become a psychologist relished in it. 

"We're here!" Velma singsonged as she parked the van. 

"Alright, jeez. Okay, so I have a list of things I'm going to question the staff over, you guys head up to the hotel rooms and work on researching the Patty O'Malley case." Fred explained as he hopped out, everyone else following.

"Sounds like a plan." Shaggy nodded. "I'm gonna, like, take a quick smoke break before I head in. Calm my nerves, you know?"

"Take your time, buddy." Daphne patted Shaggy's shoulder before grabbing Velma's elbow and leading the brunette into the hotel lobby.

Velma had to hide her blush. She felt awful whenever Daphne and her were alone - Or, well, actually, she felt great. She'd had a crush on the ginger ever since they'd first met, when Velma's Pokemon card collection fell out of her backpack at school and Daphne laughed at her before offering to help pick them up. It just...Daphne was such a sweet girl. She was beautiful, funny, tall...100% Velma's type. And yet...She was with someone else.

And you know what? That was fine. Velma respected Daphne and Fred. They had one of the best relationships Velma had seen out of two high seen cool sweethearts, and even if Freddy was an idiot at times, he genuinely cared. Daphne deserved someone who cared so heavily about her. Velma looked away from Daphne as they walked into the building, internally cursing at herself. 

Daphne pressed a button on the elevator, and the two stood in wait.

"Do you know why they keep it so cold in here?" Daphne laughed nervously.

Velma hadn't noticed. She supposed wearing a turtleneck and a trench coat together made for some better gear compared to Daphne's thin t-shirt.

"...I'd assume to keep the inside of the area cool on a hot summer's day." Velma shrugged. "Really, it could also just be a malfunctioning air conditioning unit."

"Right."

The elevator doors swung open, and Velma turned to find-

A corpse.

The frozen bloodied corpse of a young woman, propped into a sitting position in the elevator, her eyes bloodshot and her fingernails broken. Her designer clothes were ruined, stained a deep crimson from a deep, cavernous wound supposedly somewhere in her chest area. It looked as if her teeth had been pulled from her mouth.

Velma could only stare in horror as Daphne screamed.


End file.
